In this episode of Let’s Buy The World, host Evan Darnell sits down with Amarillo hotel operator and real estate entrepreneur Matthew Marrs, a 29-year-old who went from one owner-financed Airbnb to managing 186+ hotel rooms, reviving iconic local properties, and generating millions in hospitality revenue.
Matt reveals how he:
1. Turned 1 Airbnb into 50+ short-term rentals in under 2 years
2. Quadrupled revenue at the Big Texan Motel using STR innovations
3. Acquired and transformed the once-notorious Cactus Cove Hotel & Conference Center
4. Leveraged brand visibility, self-check-in technology, and guest experience upgrades
5. Built investor trust through reliability, transparency, and outworking everyone in the room

Evan and Matt break down:
1. The honest struggles and real failures behind the wins
2. Lessons from bad business partners, stolen contractor funds & expensive mistakes
3. Why “luck” happens to people who show up early and stay late
4. The booming future of hospitality thanks to AI data center expansion in Amarillo
5. The mindset of a resilient entrepreneur determined to grow every year

If you’re interested in Hotels, Airbnb, STR investing, scaling local hospitality with national level returns, entrepreneurship and partnerships, turning failures into fuel, this conversation will fire you up
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What’s YOUR next bold move?
🏨 Follow Matt:
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